News & events

News & events

Awards and congratulatory messages

2016 Distinguished Service Award: Gail Rudderham Chernin QC

The Society is pleased to announce that Gail Rudderham Chernin QC of Sydney is the recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Service Award, which was presented October 28 at the annual Recognition Reception. Established in 1999, the award is presented to a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society who has made significant contributions to the community, the legal profession and the Society. ​

Ms. Chernin is a practising lawyer at The Breton Law Group, and has also worked in smaller firms and as a sole practitioner. Highly regarded among her clients, her peers and the judiciary, she received her Queen’s Counsel designation in 2004 and has been recognized a number of times in the area of personal injury litigation as one of the Best Lawyers in Canada. Since her 1987 Bar admission, her main areas of practice have also included insurance, product liability, professional liability, mediation and alternate dispute resolution.

A tireless volunteer within the profession and her community, Ms. Chernin served as President of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society in 2003-2004, and is currently Vice-Chair of the Hearing Committee. She was a member of Council from 1995 to 1998 and again from 2001 to 2005, and has served on numerous committees from 1996 onward. She was also Vice President and then President of the Cape Breton Barristers’ Society in the 1990s. She is pictured here at the Recognition Reception with current President R. Daren Baxter QC, TEP (at right) and Marc Njoh, articled clerk at Stewart McKelvey, recipient of the 2016 NSBS Presidents' Leadership Award (at left).

Ms. Chernin received the Constance R. Glube Spirit Award in 2009 from the Canadian Bar Association's Nova Scotia Branch. She is an active mentor and assists in planning committees for professional development events, law day events and Bench & Bar Dinners to honour judicial appointments. A member of the Sydney Rotary Club since 1989, she has also served as Chair of the Cape Breton United Way, Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Atlantic and, presently, as Secretary of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – National.

Several other achievements were recognized at the reception, which took place at the Delta Halifax:

The 2016 NSBS Presidents' Leadership Award: Marc Njoh, now articling with Stewart McKelvey, received this award for leadership qualities and volunteer efforts while attending the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University;

The 2016 NSBS Presidents' Leadership Summer Internship: Law student Lucy Jackson spent this past summer as an intern with the Halifax-based Centre for Law and Democracy; and